Material accelerator



5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. l5, 1942. T. a. ALLARDlcl-:trAL

* MATERIAL AccELERAToR Filed oct. 2e, 19:59

n 5 nl! .m M a .v 2 n e h s 3 T. B. ALLARDICE EI'AL MATERAL AccELERAToR Filed oct. 26, 1939 Dec. 15, 1942.

at'entecl Dec. 15, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- MATERIAL ACCELERATOR Thomas B. Allardice, Mountain Lakes, N. J., and Jonas Lien, Port Washington, N. Y.

Application October 26, I1939, 'Serial No. 301,468

6 Claims.

For a variety of reasons coal and other loose material, commonly shipped in hopper cars, fails to run out of the hopper cars when the doors at the bottom are opened. Sometimes the material is badly caked, having been Wet when the car was filled and perhaps including some foreign matter. Sometimes, .even when the material runs out of the hopper, it moves so sluggishly that considerable time is wasted in dumping the car. Various devices have been proposed heretofore for breaking and agitating the loose material, and according to the present invention there is provided such apparatus of an improved form having various advantages over prior apparatus in this eld.

The apparatus of this invention is exceedingly simple and is nevertheless much more exible in its utility than such apparatus heretofore. This is particularly true because of the provision of a self-contained agitating unit including a driving motor and the suspension of this unit by cables from a crane so that it may be tilted in one direction or another to follow the contour of the pile of loose material within the car. Furthermore, because the motor is reversible and because screws similar to conveyor screws are used as the agitating elements, the agitator may be used as a pusher to feed the loose material along the surface of a pile to the hopper outlet, the reversible motor also permitting drive in the opposite directions so that the screws can be used to drill down into the pile to break up the pile.

Because of the unitary feature in which a plurality of drills are all mounted together with a motor and suspended by cables, great simplicity of construction and control is made possible. The unit structure, weighing in the neighborhood of five tons, is suiiciently heavy to make the device self-feeding in both its drilling operation and pushing, so that no means need be provided for applying pressure to it. The use of a self-contained unit and the inclusion of the motor therein facilitates protecting the gears and bearings from injurious foreign matter such as coal dust so that they need rarely if ever be replaced. The Wearing parts, namely the screws, are so constructed that the vanes and sleeves to which they are secured are removable from the driving shafts so that they may be replaced readily.

Additional advantages and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing the relationship of the preferred form of the invention to a railroad hopper car, for use with which it is especially suitable.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the tilting of the agitating unit for the purpose of pushing material toward the bottom of the hopper.

Fig. 3 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of the agitating unit with the left half thereof broken away to show the same in section.

Fig. 4 is a view of the agitating unit taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing the top of the agitating unit except where it is broken away to show the bearing housing thereof in section.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary end elevation of the agitating unit.

A preferred form of the invention has been chosen for illustration and description, in compliance with section 4888 of the revised statutes, but persons skilled in the art will readily perceive other means for accomplishing the same results, and the claims are therefore to be construed as broadly as possible, consistent with the prior art.

In Fig. 1 the agitating unit I I is shown suspended from the bridge I2 of an overhead crane which runs on suitably supported tracks I3. In use for unloading a hopper car I4, the tracks I3 will be positioned generally parallel to the railroad tracks I6 so that movement of the bridge I2 along the tracks I3 will move the agitating unit I I lengthwise of the car I4.

To position the agitating unit II laterally of the car I4 it is suspended from a carriage I'I which runs along tracks carried on bevel fills on the flanges of bridge girders I8.

The position of the agitating unit I I can be controlled electrically from an operators cab I9. One motor 2|, operating through reduction gearing 22, drives drive wheels 23 to move the bridge along the tracks I3. Another motor 26, operating through reduction gearing 21, drives a drum 28 to move the cable 29 in one direction or the other. The two ends of the cable after going around sheaves 3| are connected to opposite ends of the carriage I1 so as to pull the carriage in either direction. Spring units 32 may be attached between the cable and the carriage I 1 so as to keep the cable taut and absorb the shocks of starting and stopping. It is thus seen that with the motors 2I and 26, both of which are reversible, the unit II may be positioned over any part of the car.

The agitating unit II includes screws 33 which with the unit II may be lowered into the car by operation of a motor 34, which operates a winch 36 through reduction gearing 31. Although all of the crane motors may be provided with solenoid brakes, the reduction gearing 31 is preferably self-locking so that it will independently hold the unit I I at any height to which it is moved by the motor 34. Winch 36 winds up cable 38 which passes around sheaves 39 on the bridge, sheave 40 on the carriage, sheave 4I on the unit II, sheaves 42 on the carriage, sheave 44 at the other end of agitating unit I I, to sheave 45 on the carriage, at which point the cable 38 may normally be regarded as stationary. Thus, it is seen that as the winch 36 is driven in one direction by the motor 34 it will raise the agitating unit II, while, if it is allowed to rotate in the other direction, the agitating unit I I will be lowered.

Beyond the sheave 45 cable 38 extends around sheaves 41 to a counterweight 48 which is normally drawn up against springs 49 by the weight of agitating unit II. If anything should happen which would otherwise cause slack to appear in cable 38, counterweight 48 will drop to take up this slack.

Agitatz'ng unit The agitating unit is a self-suncient assembly having its own driving motor 5I forming a part thereof. The motor 5I is connected through reduction gearing 52 with a shaft 53 bearing a pinion 54. Pinion 54 meshes with piniors 56, each of which is keyed to a shaft 51 comprising a portion of the agitating elements. Additional shafts 51 may be driven from pinion 56 by means of pinions 58 and intervening idler gears 59.

Each of the shafts 51 is journaled by bearings 6I and 62 and carries at its lower end sleeves 63 having spiral blades 64 thereon, thereby forming screws. The sleeve 63 may be adjusted to smooth operating relationship with the bearing 62 by means of a cap nut 66 on the shaft 51. Sleeve 63 may be keyed to shaft 51 by pins 61 and, after adjustment, cap nut 66 may be keyed in its adjusted position by a locking pin 68. It is thus seen that by removing pins 61 and 68 the cap nut 66 and the sleeve and blade 64 may be removed and replaced whenever wear of the blade 64 makes this advisable.

In various operations there will be considerable longitudinal thrust on the shafts 51, sometimes in one direction and sometimes in the other. To withstand this thrust, collars 1I are rigidly secured to each shaft 51 bearing against opposite ends of the bearing bushing 6I. The

bushings 6I are supported by bearing holders 12 1 which also support stub shafts 13 on which are journaled idler gears 59, and bearing bushing 14 in which the lower end of shaft 53 is journaled.

'The bearing holder 12 vcomprises two halves which, as best seen in Figs. 4 and 6, are securely bolted together by bolts 16, thus securely holding the bearing bushings 6I and 14 and the stub shafts 13. Thus bolted together, the bearing holder itself may be firmly secured between a bottom castingA 18 and a top casting 19, as by bolts 8I passing through said two castings and through the bearing holder 12.

From the foregoing it is seen that the various gears are thoroughly sealed from harmful foreign matter such as coal dust. The bearings 62 seal the housing where the shafts 51 extend therethrough, and the motor and gear unit 5I-52 may be of the completely enclosed type so that no foreign matter can enter the housing at that point. In short, the housing which comprises bottom casting 18, top casting 19, and intervening bearing holder 12 is effectively sealed.

Due to the long life of the parts thus protected, it is considered desirable to weld the collars 1I to the shafts 51 to insure permanency in their positioning. This can be done by applying the bearing bushing`6l thereto before the second collar is welded. The sh'aft 51 may then be lowered through the bearing 62 and the sleeve 63 with its blade 64 applied thereto.

It will be observed that the sheaves 4I and 44 are journaled at the ends of the top casting 19 so that the entire unit is suspended from this top casting. It will also be observed that the bottom casting is provided with' tubular portions 8| of substantial length so that the bearing 62 is remotely positioned with respect to the bearing 6I, hence protecting these bearings from excessive wear due to lateral forces applied to the screws 33.

Although the exact dimensions of the parts are not important and wide departures will doubtlessly be made therefrom by future designers, it may be helpful to give some dimensions of an embodiment of the invention which h'as been found to be very satisfactory, other dimensions being proportional according to scale of the drawings. The overall height of the agitating unit in the embodiment mentioned is 12 feet. The spacing 0f the agitating element centers is 16 inches. The diameter of the shafts of these elements is 4 inches. The vanes 64 of the screws are of l2-inch outside diameter and have a 12-inch pitch. They are secured to the sleeves or pipes 63 by a continuous weld. The pipe 63 is a 5inch pipe of a type known as double extrastrong pipe. The bushings 62 may desirably be bronze bushings with a piston nt and may be desirably provided with lubricating channels terminating with flush type lubricating fittings 86. The bearings 6I and also the bearings 81 for idler gears 59 may desirably be self-lubricating bronze bush'ings. The bearings 6I may be in the form of split bushings, while the bearings 81 may be cylindrical and may have a pressed fit with the gears 59.

As previously stated, the motor 5I is of the fully enclosed type. It will nevertheless be fan cooled. A l0-horsepower, 1200 R. P. M. motor has been found satisfactory. The output speed of the reducing gears may be approximately 30 R. P. M. or even less.

Operation As previously described, the agitating unit II may be brought to th'e desired position over the car by moving the bridge I2 longitudinally along the tracks I3 and by moving the carriage I1 to the proper position on the bridge I2. Then the motor 34 may be operated to 'pay out cable 38, thereby lowering the agitating unit into the car. If the material in the4 car is badly caked, it may be desirable first of all to drill into it. This is done by driving the reversible motor 5I in the drilling direction, which may be called the forward direction for convenience. As the screws 33 are thus rotated, the cable 38 will be paid out further so as to feed the screws 33 into the loose material. 'I'he unit II will weigh in the neighborhood of ve tons so that there will be plenty of weight available to supply the necessary feeding force.

If, after the car has been partially emptied, the material still doesnt flow therefrom as fast as desired, the agitating unit may be used as a pushing `v.unit or accelerator by reversing its motor 5 I. "It will then usually be lowered until its point begins to rest on the pile of material, and then tilted to lie on the pile as seen in Fig. 2 by moving the bridge I2 and simultaneously paying out the cable 38 slightly. In other words, the agitating unit is tilted to follow the surface of the pile. Due to its reversed rotation it' will now act as a multiscrew conveyor, pushing th'e material rapidly toward the door 83 of the car. It will be observed in this connection that the use of the idler gears 59 between the screws not only causes the -screws to all rotate in the same direction so that identical screws may be used, but also spaces the screws apart slightly. The advantage of this is that th'e four screws will have a relatively wide coverage, being much more effective than if they were locked close together inasmuch as they tend to move not only the material which is directly in contact with them but the intervening material as well. Even if they do not move the intervening material directly, it will be loosened and roll into the sphere of action of one or the other of the screws.

It will be observed that an opening 90 in carriage I'I permits the crane to be somewhat lower than would otherwise be necessary, since the motor housing 5I may project through this opening. The agitating unit II is always entirely below the carriage when it is tilted enough' for the small size of the opening to cause any restriction of movement.

From the foregoing it is seen that a combined material loosener and material accelerator has been provided which is extremely simple in operation, particularly due to the fact that it is a self-contained unit which without the aid of anything more than simple operating cables and conventional crane structure can be tilted to one direction or the other to serve at any angle which is most useful. The self-contained unit also is especially advantageous in making it possible to eifectively seal the gearing as well as the thrust bearings so that these parts in which the greatest mechanical wear usually occurs will be thoroughly protected from foreign matter, such as coal dust. The blades and sleeves of the screws, which are of course subjected to very rapid wear from contact with the coal, may easily be replaced.

Although, as a typical application, the specilications and accompanying drawings describe and illustrate the invention as ideally applicable for unloading of bulk cargo from hopper-bottom railroad cars, the broad scope of uses for the invention is intended to cover the breaking down, loosening and moving of bulk cargos in whatever facilities such cargos may be transported on land or water as well as materials in any storage, bin, bunker or accumulation, enclosed or in the open, whether at the source or the destination of the materials.

Also, as a typical application, the agitating unit is described and illustrated as suspended from a bridge type overhead crane. However, its use is as well applicable and intended in connection with any suitable support, or suspension from stationary or portable hoisting facilities such as derrick, locomotive crane or cableway.

The terms cable and cable means as used in this application, particularly in the claims, are of course intended to mean any suitable flexible means which will serve the purpose of a cable, including a rope or a chain. The term fall means a single reach of cable (rope or chain), the agitating unit being shown in the drawings as supported by four falls.

We claim:

1. Agitating apparatus forcaked;j:l;fsngate3"mi Crialand the like, including a support, an agitating unit suspended from the support by cable means, hanging from the cable means in an active position, and in its active elevation being positioned entirely below the support whereby it is free to tilt, and means for controlling the cable means to lower the unit to such elevation and to let the cable means out further in order to let the unit tilt after its lower end comes to rest, the agitating unit including a motor and a plurality of screws driven thereby normally hanging downwardly and adapted to act on the material at their ends, all of the screws being driven simultaneously in a drilling direction or optionally in a pushing direction.

2. An agitating unit including a bottom casting having a plurality of parallel tubular portions connected by reinforcing webs, a bearing carried at the bottom of each tubular portion, a rotary agitator element journaled in the bearing and extending through the tubular portion and beyond the casting at each end, one end being exposed for duty and the other end being provided with a cylindrical bearing surface, and thrust collars rigidly secured to the shaft at opposite ends of the bearing surface, bearing bushings journaling the shaft and bearing against the thrust collars, a separable bearing housing closed about the bushings and supporting the same, pinions mounted on the rotary agitator elements beyond the bearing housing, and a head casting surrounding the pinions and bolted to the bottom casting with the bearing housing between said castings.

3. An agitating unit including a bottom casting having a plurality of parallel tubular porand beyond the casting at each end, one end being exposed for duty andthe other end being provided with a cylindrical bearing surface, and thrust collars rigidly secured to the shaft at opposite ends of the bearing surface, bearing bushings journaling the shaft and bearing against the thrust collars, a separable bearing housing closed about the bushings and supporting the same, pinions mounted on the rotary agitator elements beyond the bearing housing, a head casting surrounding the pinions and bolted to the bottom casting with thebearing housing between said castings, a stub shaft secured in the bearing housing intermediate the agitator elements, and a pinion journaled on the stub shaft and meshing with the pinions on adjacent agltator elements.

4. A combined drill and pusher for material handling, including a housing adapted to be supported in active position solely by cable means,

' a motor on the housing, and a plurality of drill be broken up and moved, having drill screw means extending downwardly therefrom and extending below all other parts of the unit whereby said screw means may freely drill into the pile, and driving means for rotating the drill screw means in a drilling direction for drilling into the pile to loosen the material and optionally in the reverse direction to convey the loosened material in the direction in which the drill screw means extends from the unit.

6. Agitating apparatus for aiding in the unloading of material from cars or the like, including a support and a self-contained agitating unit suspended freely from the support by cables and including a motor and a plurality of screws Cil driven thereby and depending substantially vertically downwardly therefrom with thel lower 

